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Yen Slides as Japan Election Boosts Fiscal Stimulus Expectations 
The UK gilts slumped Monday as investors wait to watch the country’s consumer price inflation for the month of January, scheduled to be released on February 13 and Bank of England (BoE) member McCafferty’s speech, due to be held later today for detailed insight into the bond market.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, jumped 4-1/2 basis points to 1.61 percent, the super-long 30-year bond yields surged 4 basis points to 1.98 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year too traded 3-1/2 basis points higher at 0.69 percent by 09:45GMT.
The main event in the UK this week will be tomorrow’s release of January’s inflation data. The Bank of England said in its Inflation Report that it expects inflation to have remained unchanged at the start of the year, at 3 percent, as it signaled that interest rates are likely to rise sooner than previously thought.
"While we expect at touch softer reading of 2.9 percent y/y, we think that the core rate might inch higher by 0.1ppt to 2.6 percent y/y in January, which would support our thinking that a Bank Rate rise may now be likely in May," Daiwa Capital Markets commented in its latest report.
The BoE also said that it assumes that the inflationary impact of sterling weakness in 2016 and 2017 on import prices is likely to be near its peak, and the producer price inflation figures should provide evidence on this. Tuesday also sees the release of the ONS house price data for December, with the weakness of mortgage approvals of late suggesting only a modest rise in property values. The ONS retail sales data for January will be released on Friday. Surveys from the BRC and CBI have suggested that, following the weakest December sales growth for seven years, the subdued trend continued into the New Year.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 traded 1.24 percent higher at 7,182.75 by 09:50 GMT, while at 09:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained neutral at -66.39 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex
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